"Louis L'amour - sackett13 - Treasure Mountain" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Amour Louis)

Treasure Mountain by Louis L'Amourrelease info
Treasure Mountain
by
Louis L'Amour



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About the Author



Chapter I
"To kill a man, my dear, is not always to make an end of him." The statement was
made by Andre Baston.
"But after twenty years? Twenty years?" said the woman.
"A lifetime to you, Fanny, but only yesterday to a man like your Uncle Philip."
"But how could anyone know? It all happened so long ago, and so far away!"
"Nevertheless, a man is here in New Orleans and he is asking questions. His name
is Sackett."
"What?"
"Orrin Sackett. He is an attorney, a lawyer. He has the same name as the man who
went to the western mountains with Pierre."
Fanny Baston was small, slender, voluptuous, and beautiful. Her shoulders were
soft and amazingly white, her lips were warm and a little full, and her eyes
were large.
She shrugged. "What difference can it make? Let him ask his questions. We simply
know nothing. Who is left who could possibly know anything?"
Andre scowled. "I do not know. Nobody, perhaps. But I do not like him asking
questions. If Philip ever found out ..."
"It would be the end," Paul said. "The end. He would cut us off, leave us
nothing."
"You, perhaps," Fanny said to Andre. "But I was a baby. Not five years old. And
Paul, you were not even in your teens. We had nothing to do with it."
"Do you think that would matter?" said Paul. "Uncle Philip only needs an excuse
to cut us all off. You too. You aren't exactly his pride and joy, you know."
"Then," she leaned forward, dusting the ash of her small cigar into a saucer,
"kill him. Kill this Orrin Sackett and drop him in the bayou before he can even
be connected to us. Kill him at once."
Andre was no longer surprised at anything his niece said. "You have an idea?"
"Do it yourself, Andre. He would not be the first." She looked up at him and
smiled. "Why not? Find an excuse, challenge him. There is not a better shot in
New Orleans, and as for a rapier ... how many men have you killed, Andre? In
duels, I mean?"
"Twelve," he replied. "You have a point. It might be the answer."
"You are too bloody," Paul objected. "If you want him killed, there are other
ways. We might get him into one of the concert-saloonsЧthe Buffalo Bill House,
for example. Williams would take care of him for us."
"No." Fanny spoke sharply. "No, Paul. If there is killing to be done, the fewer